Q: Three years ago, my mom signed over ownership of the house to us because my husband and I moved in as her caregivers. We have put much into the house to improve it as well as paying the taxes and insurance on the property.
Mom has been on dialysis for four and a half years, and her illnesses have progressed to the point where I don’t know if I will be able to care for her. I’ve been thinking about putting her into a nursing home.
I have been told that we could lose our home if she goes into a nursing home because it was a quit claim deed. Is this true?
A: There are a bunch of “ifs” to discuss.
Unfortunately, if your mother requires Medicaid to pay for her nursing home bill, Medicaid has a five-year lookback rule. In other words, the government can look back five years to determine if your mother had assets that could have been used to pay for her stay in the nursing home. If so, and if these assets were given away, the government can claim that those assets could have and should have been used to pay for the Medicaid expenses.
It sounds like your mother’s house would be her chief asset. She may have given you her home to avoid putting the asset at risk of being sold to pay for her nursing home care. If she now needs Medicaid assistance, and it has only been three years since she gave you the house, it is possible that the government could try to unwind the transfer of the home to you and your husband.
Alternatively, Medicaid could put a lien against the property and whenever you sell it, the government would collect on the lien.
Now you have to figure out if there is a way you can preserve some ownership of the property.
The home may have been transferred to you and your husband and you in turn did not pay your mom money for the home. But you’ve spent money on the property and to care for your mom. Whether these expenses would be sufficient to allow you to keep the home and not subject the home to the five-year rule might influence the decision as to whether you can keep the home or whether the home should be used by Medicaid for her nursing home expenses.
You might want to get all the documentation together to outline what the home was worth and how much you have paid towards your mother’s expenses and the home’s expenses the last several years.
Then, contact a knowledgable elder care or estate attorney to discuss the situation, the issue of timing and how you and your mother structured the transfer. If she gave you the home in exchange for your care and your money to take care of her the last three years, Medicaid rules might view it one way. If the transfer was outright and your mother had no expectations of anything in return, that transfer would be suspect under Medicaid rules.
Oct. 3, 2008.
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Approximately 15 years ago, my father’s health was failing and he feared he would lose his farm and farmstead to nursing home costs and he made a quit deed to my 2 brothers and I, selling it for the cost of $1.00 from each of us. My father died 13 years ago, one of my brothers died a year ago, leaving his 4 children as his heirs to his share of the property. My older brother and I remain and my mother still is alive……The problem is this, the farmstead is falling apart. It is a distance from where we all live and keeping it up is impossible. My brother is reluctant to sell the farmstead, yet doesn’t want to turn it over to someone that whould rescue it and love it again. He believes that it will cancel out all the terms of the old quit deed and if out mother goes to a nursing home, the farm would go as well ,to pay for her costs. I’m totally frustrated with his logic and feel controlled by him. He will not sign over his share so she can sell anything, that she and my father worked very hard for all of their lives. Is my brother correct in his thoughts, or can she sell the farmstead and still be protected by the original quit deed.?What would happen if she just signed the farmstead over without any exchange on monies? Please, Please Advise! Thank You!
I own my home tax valued at maybe 160.000. Separated but husband wants to sale the house and slips money. I’m on medicaid/Medicare. My daughter wants me to sale the house and build a small place behind her on their land. If I showed I reused the money from sales would I lose my medicaid? I have cops and don’t need to be alone.
How about if the property is put into a trust
My sister talked my father into ]putting his land into my nephew’s name t[ keep medicad from taking it to pay his wifes and his doctor bills by putting in my nephew’s name is this against the lawyer
My parents quick claim deeded me their house 7 years ago how can Medicaid still say that the house is still an asset for them. He passed away and she is in slillwd care for 30 more days. Do I need to go to the record of deeds to get the paperwork. I thought quick last m deed would show it would be my house especially after 7 years
My father has had many issues this past years. In March 2013 we had him put his estate in a revocable trust. We have been able to keep him out of a home so far. How many years do we have to wait if we have to put him in a home before Medicare can not take his estate. He wants to stay at home , but we are afraid that we are not going to be able as it goes along. He is afraid they will take everything if he goes, but we can not handle his issues when he gets sick.
Connie:
The Medicaid (not Medicare, there’s a difference) look-back period is still 5 years. And, while your dad may be worried about paying for his care, that’s what it’s there for. If you can’t care for him, and he needs a higher-level of care, you’ll want to find a good place for him.
Hope it goes well for him, and for you.
Ilyce
I am quit claimed onto my mothers home, she is a widow. Should I refinance it into my own name, or will a quit claim protect some of the assets if she goes into a nursing home. It would have to be an investment property if I refinance it into my own name as I live 2 hours away.. thank you
Mom and dad own a house… they still owed 200,000 on and Medicaid wanted them to allow it to foreclose but mom and dad quick deed it to continuing paying for it. In ohio what are the Medicaid rules for this? It’s already happened and has been recorded in the county records. Will they come after a property so owed and how do i tell them?
Medicaid has a 5 or 7 year lookback rule for people who are trying to hide assets. But you are allowed to keep some assets. Please consult with an elder care attorney to discuss what is legal.